Written by

Free Press Staff Writer

Hair nets and gloves were handed out at the registration desk upon entering the Albert D. Lawton Middle School gymnasium. Folks came ready to work.

Grace Ripley, 7, of St. Albans happily weighed the packet of rice handed to her. The assembly line she worked on was made up of a whole host of people from across the state, including her friends and family.

In all, more than 1,300 Vermonters volunteered in shifts to take action against hunger around the world for The Feed My Starving Children MobilePack event in Essex Junction and in Bristol on Oct. 19.

Feed My Starving Children MobilePack events allow people across the United States to pack meals for hungry people worldwide. In 2012, more than 177,000 MobilePack volunteers packed more than 41 million meals, with 204 events in more than 30 states.

The non-profit, With Love From Vermont, sponsored the Vermont event.

Enough food to feed 700 children for a year, 272,000 meals, and 1,500 pounds of non-perishable food for the Vermont Food Bank were packed at the Albert Lawton School in Essex Junction and Mt. Abraham Union High School in Bristol this year.

With Love From Vermont President Fred Kenney of Bolton said the packs of rice and dried vegetables will be shipped to Haiti.

This is Kenney’s second year organizing the event in Vermont. “We doubled our efforts from last year,” he said. “It’s a great way to give people a chance to have an impact on hunger around the world.”

Ray Bulaga of Richmond said he volunteered because MobilePack is a real way to love people, he said. “People are hungry, and it’s not just physical,” he said. “People around here are spiritually hungry. This here today is feeding our soul.”